Howell High School warmed up for the start of this week’s state sectional playoffs with a victory over Marlboro High School, 42-7, on Nov. 3 in Howell.
Howell’s standout quarterback, Edwin Morales, threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns in the game. He also ran for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Morales said he believes Howell has a recipe that’s working as the Rebels begin their bid to win a South Jersey, Group 5 championship, with the tournament starting Nov. 10. Howell’s first-round opponent will be Cherokee High School at 7 p.m. in Howell.
“We have to do what we’ve been doing: keep winning [and] keep dominating on the offensive side,” Morales said. “[We also maybe need to] sure up some things on the defensive side as we get into states but keep everything flowing the way we have been and try to get better every day as states come around.”
Morales is hopeful Howell’s defense can match the dominance the team’s offense has exhibited all year.
“We definitely need to keep working on our defense,” he said. “Lately, we’ve been having trouble with that. Our passing game has been making up for that, but we also have to sure up our running game as well. We’re good on the edges, but we have to sure up the runs right up the middle between the guards.”
Morales’ expectations for the Rebels in the state playoffs are high.
“I expect us to get right to states,” Morales said. “We’re in South Jersey, Group 5. In my opinion, it’s the toughest group besides the big Catholic schools up there up north. We have a lot of teams ranked in the top 20 and match up well against all of them, in my opinion. So, we’ll see, but I expect us to go far.”
Howell coach Luke Sinkhorn also wants to see more out of his defense and is seeking improvement from the run defense while also applying more pressure in situations, forcing more three-and-outs.
The coach also wants the offense to be even better.
“On offense, we need to put some drives together and don’t let ourselves get into second-and-long and third-and-long situations,” Sinkhorn said. “If we do that, we’ll be good to go.”
Sinkhorn admitted it will be a challenge for his troops to advance far in the playoffs.
Last year, the Rebels reached the semifinals of the South Jersey, Group 5 tournament, falling to the top-seeded club, Toms River High School North, 62-34. Toms River North lost to Millville High School in the championship game, 22-16.
“We’re trying to win that South Jersey, Group 5 [tournament],” Sinkhorn said. “We’re looking to compete and do well. We got to the semifinals last year. We wish we had a better showing, but it is a solid group. Teams are very solid at that point — some tough running teams. The problem is most of those teams are from South Jersey, so we don’t know that much about them. We just have to do what we need to do: get drives on offense and stop them on defense.”
The coach is excited to see what his team is made of when the tournament begins.
“This is the best time of the year. This is where you want to be. … This is exactly where you need to be,” said Sinkhorn, who believes there is nothing better than playoff football and pointed to playing when its cold outside and traveling with the team as some of the highlights.
“Hopefully, we’ll get to host a game for the first time in about a decade. That’ll be great to really be able to showcase our guys and prove what we can do.”
The Rebels are 8-1 this season and trail only Manalapan High School in the Shore Conference A North Division standings with a 5-1 mark. The Braves are 6-0 in A North and 9-0 overall.
Senior wide receiver Nasiem Brantley, who had 68 yards receiving and a touchdown in Howell’s victory over Marlboro, is focused on getting started in the state playoffs.
“We expect to win the state championship,” he said. “That’s it. We came here to win it all.”
